Connector.



No. 762,684. PTENTED JUNE 14. 1904. F. E. CASE.

CONNECTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED ooT.s.19o2.

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INVENTO UNITED STATES 'Patented June 14, 1904.-

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. CASE, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEV YORK.

CONNECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,684, dated June 14, 1904.

Application filed October B, 1902.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. CAsE, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Connectors, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to connectors or jumpers, with especial reference to such as are used on electric railways to connect the wires or conductors of one vehicle to those of another.

In electric or steam railway work it is often desirable to connect a plurality of wires or conductors to corresponding wires or conductors through the different cars or vehicles comprising the trainhfor instance, the conductor which is connected to the lighting-circuit is often run through the train independent of the motor-control circuits and of the circuit connected with the motors which drive the air-brake pumps, and it would be disastrous if the said wires or conductors were cross-connected or wrongly coupled in passing from one car to the next.

The object of my invention is to prevent the cross-connecting of dissimilar wires or conductors in making up a train of' cars.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure l represents in elevation the adjacent ends of two cars of a train, showing my improved connector or jumper in position. Fig. 2 shows the jumper and jumper-terminals and also the fixed terminals with which said jumper-terminals engage. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the plug jumper-terminal and the fixed socketterminal in their operative position. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the jumper connections between two adjacent cars.

Referring now to the drawings, F and G represent two socket-terminals attached to the front and rear platforms, respectively, of the cars A and B.

E represents a jumper or fiexible connector carrying the plug-terminals C and D at the ends thereof,said plug-terminals beingadapted to engage the socket-terminals F and G, respectively. The plug portion CZ of the terminal C is made of a smaller diameter than serial No. 125,822. (No man the plug portion 6l of the terminal D and is also provided with a projecting pin a, which is adapted to engage the recess bor slot of the fixed socket-terminal F.

When the plug portions CZ and Z of the plugterminals C and D are forced into the socket portions t of the terminals F and G, respectively, the electrical contact o of the plug-terminals C and D engage the electrical contacts p of the socket-terminals F and G. The said plug-terminals are held in place in the socketterminals by means of the springs s, which engage with the shoulders g and g of the plugterminals C and D, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 3, the contact p is electrically connected with the lead El and is formed of a split pin, which is adapted to be compressed as it is forced into the cup-shaped contact o. The contact 0 is electrically connected with the flexible connection E. The socket-terminals F and Gr, respectively, are attached to the Linder side of the platform of the cars by means of bolts or screws which are passed through the flanges fu. In order to prevent the accumulation of dust and dirt within the socket-terminals F and Gr when not in use, I provide the covers 71;, which are pivoted at mand are adapted to be swung down over the ends of the said socket-terminals.

As shown in Fig. 4, where two conductors are employed which run through the train side by side, the arrangement of the socket-terminals F and G is such that it is impossible to Vcross-con nect said conductors-that is, to connect the conductors of one circuit with the conductors of the other circuit-since a single one of each of the differently-shaped socketterminals is placed on one side of each platform. It will be readily seen that the plugterminal D will not fit in the socket-terminal F, since the outside diameter of the plug is greater than the inside diameter of the socket, and also that the-plug-terminal C will not fit in the socket-'terminal G, since it is prevented and in the appended claims I aim to cover all modifications of my invention which do not involve a departure from its spirit and scope.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isw

l. A connector having plugterminals at either end, and socket-terminals with which said plug-terminals are adapted to engage, one of said plug-terminals being provided with a projection which is adapted to coaet with a slot in one of said socket-terminals and which prevents said plug-terminal from entering the other socket-terminal- 2. The combination of terminals permanently mounted on suitable supports, a connector for establishing connection between said terminals, the said connector being provided with terminal plugs of different dia1neters which lit into corresponding cup-shaped sockets in the permanently-mounted terminals, and a projection on the smaller of said terminal plugs, which coacts with a recess formed in the socket corresponding to said plug' but prevents said plug from entering the socket corresponding to the other terminal plug.

3. In combination, a connector having' a plug-terminal at one end provided with a projection, a socket-terminal with which said plugterminal is adapted to engage provided with a slot with which said projection is adapted to register, a plug-terminal at the other end of said connector of a diiferent size and Shape from the first-mentioned plug-terminal so that it cannot enter said socket-terminal, a socketterminal with which said last-mentioned plug'- terminal is adapted to engage, and means for holding said plug-terminals in said socketterminals.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of October, 1902.

FRANK E. CASE.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN Onronn. 

